Potential Heartbeat Bill sparks debate over abortions in Ohio

April 5, 2013

Legislation that would have essentially made it illegal to perform an abortion if a fetal heartbeat could be detected in the womb of an expectant mother died in the Ohio Senate last fall, but it’s......

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BeRight

A federal judge has cleared the way Friday for girls — and boys — of any age to purchase the “morning after pill” without having to notify their parents or a doctor. U.S. District Judge Edward Korman ruled that levonorgestrel-based contraceptives such as Plan B One-Step and Next Choice One Dose should be available over the counter to all customers of any age within 30 days. So what are you all talking about?

Tessie

Every woman I've met has agonized mightily when choosing to have an abortion, even when she knew it to be the right choice. I'm old enough to remember when birth control pills weren't available, when a woman had to learn through an "underground" where she could go to get an abortion. I had relatives and schoolmates who died from botched abortions. And I had a mother who was forced to carry a child conceived through rape, emotionally damaging her for the rest of her life and damaging all of her children.

Proponents of the Heartbeat Bill want to make all abortion illegal and feel this is the way to open the door to that. Proponents want to disallow abortion after the heartbeat is detectible at about 6 weeks after conception. Most women don't realize they're pregnant until about 8 weeks after conception. It can take 1-4 weeks to arrange a legal abortion. So you can see that it's not so simple as some would have you believe.

exofDevola

I do not know what planned parenthood you have been associated with citizen. Many years ago, in order to graduate, the school I attended required each student to do so many hours of volunteer work. I picked Planned parenthood, mainly because i thought it would be an easy job compared to some of the others.I never worked so hard in my life. The office was funded by contributions and was open to all, which was a good thing because just in Marietta there was no free clinic. It's ironic you mention the politics of Margaret Sanger, most of our clients had no clue who she was, they just wanted a pregnancy test ,( many years before OTC tests) or birth control information( sometimes we had free samples), and milk( sometimes we had formula or milk vouchers) no way was that clinic a huge money maker, in fact it barely was able to keep the lights on. We had protestors scream at our patients then, and it was just to get birth control.I know it was a helpline to poor women who had no other car

citizencane

I don't know scrappile-how many? Do you know? And how many of those would have just been done elsewhere, if all those tax dollars had gone to a true health clinic? If the tax dollars going to PP were directly used for birth control and health care, wouldn't it be better for woman? Are you really prolife?

citizencane

sorry scrappile, bad logic again. IF a drone strike kills a pregnant woman, then yes the government is guilty in that death. But reckless driver COULD kill a pregnant woman also, but we're not going to stop driving. However, once that reckless driver does kill someone, they are liable.

citizencane

This could go back and forth endlessly, so I'm calling it a night. Again, I repeat that we are all free to believe what we will, thank goodness. This issue will never fail to be divisive. I respect your right to voice your opinion, but I could not sleep tonight if I hadn't raised a voice for the ones that will never live to have that right. Good night

scrappile

If a drone strike kills a pregnant civilian, or causes them to lose the fetus, is that an abortion? This issue has been settled, the constant rehashing of this is about forcing religious beliefs of one on to another,if your really pro-life, then a drone strike can cause an abortion, and the program should be defunded.

citizencane

<<Money is completely fungible -- and as we've seen, as their taxpayer funding has increased over the last three years so has the number of abortions that they provide," she explains. "And all the while, the healthcare services and their so-called 'focus on women's health' has declined."

Quigley adds that Planned Parenthood does 145 abortions for every adoption referral, which she says is indicative of the organization's priorities.>>

citizencane

<<"Contraception services dropped by 12 percent since 2009, and cancer-screening and prevention services dropped by 29 percent," she points out. "So Planned Parenthood spent much of the last couple of years making the case for why they should receive taxpayer funding and really relying on taxpayers to fill up their coffers -- and they're not providing the healthcare services that they claim.">>

scrappile

FactCheck**** : Planned Parenthood****factcheck**** › Ask FactCheckCached You +1'd this publicly. Undo Apr 18, 2011 – But the comedic clips apparently did not make it to the inboxes of ... abortions, and whether or not taxpayer money goes to pay for them. Planned Parenthood's chart shows that abortions made up 3 percent of its total services

citizencane

Every human has the right to their own beliefs, and they have the will to decide if they believe in a God who created them. Most people polled believe that the fetus is indeed a human life, although they may disagree on when that life begins. So the bottom line question for all those people, is whether a woman has the right to end that life. No euphemism can change what it is---ending a human life. If you feel we should have the right to end that life sometime during pregnancy, that's your right. Some people think they have a right to end someone's life at 6 yrs. old, 18 yrs. old, or 45 yrs. old. Those are the people we call "mad". funny world, isn't it?

citizencane

Asknot, you are making less and less sense. PP rakes in over 300 MILLION a year from we the taxpayers, IN ADDITION to the income from over 300,000 abortions a year. Budget is not the same as revenue. If PP was not making millions in abortions, they would not offer ANY other care! Get a grip! I'd rather my tax dollars be spent on birth control, too---where did you get the idea I don't? Birth control should be PREVENTIVE, and yes those services should be available. How does having those available justify the killing of babies? Why can't they be made available without offering that?

citizencane

exof, I am aware of the full spectrum of PP services. I am also aware that they make vast sums of money on abortion services. I am also aware that the founder, Margaret Sanger, was a militant neo-nazi who believed in using birth control to eliminate "inferior" people. Her beliefs are well documented in her many published pieces. Here's a thought--why not offer prenatal services and birth control at free clinics? Then people wouldn't try to justify the existence of Planned Parenthood while it hides its true money-making business behind the veil of "charity"

exofDevola

Citizen, not all planned parenthood offices have abortion services in their clinics. Several just don't offer it. Most offices do offer many other services including birth control, pelvic exams,pregnancy testing ,some blood work, mammograms, usually in mobile van or bus, and reproductive counseling which in no way promotes abortion. Abortion mentioned to pregnant women but no one forces anyone to get an abortion. I hate every time I see planned parenthood offices mentioned only as abortion clinics.They are not a money making agency trying to convince people that there only option is an abortion, yet I read this almost everyday. It just isn't true.

citizencane

My point is the more subtle difference. Not 2 wk fetus vs. 2 year old child, but closer to birth in both cases. My point is that you draw a line at 20 weeks, some draw it at 2, some never draw it. Many will deny that the unborn are living humans, but sayin' it don't make it right. And you are judging people you don't know--most people who value life value it at ALL levels---and we fight abuse, hunger, neglect any way we can, big or small.

citizencane

Asknot, I will grant you one point--the issue of neglect and medical care. A society that does not value a life at its beginning isn't any more likely to value a life at its end. We are quickly approaching the point of being denied certain treatments and procedures because their cost can't be 'justified' for a life that's nearly over. But that's another issue for another day

citizencane

Asknot, if Planned Parenthood spent their huge profits on agencies to fight hunger and disease, it would be great. Do you think Planned Parenthood is non-profit? Abortion is a huge business, why do you think their lobby is so powerful? Science and medicine have made it possible to keep premature "fetuses" alive at earlier and earlier stages---who is supposed to decide when life begins? And who is supposed to decide the value of that life? If a mother doesn't want her 28 week unborn child and is permitted to kill it, how is that different from a mother deciding to kill her newly born 2 week old infant?

Chester05

You can support big govt. by allowing mandatory medical procedures, marriage and what guns you can own or less intrusive govt. that doesn't restrict any of these. I imagine this creates a problem for most partisan folks commenting though.

Doulos

asknot - from the article ... Anatomical studies have documented that the body’s pain network—the spino-thalamic pathway—is established by 20 weeks gestation.

• “At 20 weeks, the fetal brain has the full complement of brain cells present in adulthood, ready and waiting to receive pain signals from the body, and their electrical activity can be recorded by standard electroencephalography (EEG).” — Dr. Paul Ranalli, neurologist, University of Toronto

• An unborn baby at 20 weeks gestation “is fully capable of experiencing pain. … Without question, [abortion] is a dreadfully painful experience for any infant subjected to such a surgical procedure.” — Robert J. White, M.D., PhD., professor of neurosurgery, Case Western University

Doulos

asknot -- Perhaps you could check out this link, ***********mccl****/unborn-babies-can-feel-pain.html, to verify that unborn babies do feel pain. The techniques used in abortion do harm the unborn child.

citizencane

Had to come back for this. Asknot, you just threw all credibility and reason out the window. Abortion doesn't harm others against their will???? Seriously, those babies chose to be killed? And if you don't think an unborn child is a human life, why punish someone who harms a pregnant women and causes her to lose the child? Advances in science have proven the viability of that life, so don't even go there. And yes, there are laws against neglect, or aren't you aware of them? And where does lack of medicine and clean water play into this issue?

citizencane

This issue is far too complicated to debate in short paragraphs. That said, the majority of abortions are "convenience" abortions- meaning the conditions aren't favorable for the woman to give birth to the child she created. Yes, a woman has a right to do what she pleases with her own body, no argument there. It's that other little body I feel sorry for. And that is all I'm going to add, because this could go on endlessly.

citizencane

Agreed Doulos- Morality is legislated each time a law is passed regarding theft, rape, incest, legal age to drink, etc....whether it permits the activity or prohibits it. Yes abortion is a moral issue, but the fact that the government legalized it gave it validation and made it morally acceptable to people who may have otherwise rejected it. Many think that if it's legal, it's right.